Into the woods
by Heat Castle
Summary: Ridding a horse can be a little dangerous after years of absence. Thankfully Regina finds an unexpected help.


My second OQ ever. First one is buried somewhere deep down the pages on my OQ tumblr lol

Anyway, I'm just starting to write them so there's probably something not fitting with canon characterization, but I'm ok with it.

**Disclaimer**: _Nothing in OUAT belongs to me, because if it did I would probably have chosen some different paths here and there. Can't complain, though. 3B has revived my love for the show._

She had to burn some of the adrenaline that was wildly running in her system. This whole Zelena nonsense was driving her crazy. And as much as she dig in her past, Regina couldn't find a single clue as to why her mother gave her sister away or why she never talked about her before. She tried to search through some of her mother's belongings just to find a letter that once was her safe haven. She realized that she probably didn't stand a chance against Zelena, but she wasn't going to bend her head. If she was supposed to die, she was going to die fighting.

"Ugh!" she thought to herself. "When did I become this good queen?"

Right now she needed some leverage, something that could help them defeat her sister. But she really needed to know what she was planning. She couldn't figure out why she was helding Rumplestiltskin captive or why she tried to rip her heart off the last time they met. That was seriously bothering her.

So, that's the reason why the queen was riding her beloved Rocinante, running fast. The blood pumping fast in her veins, the cold wind of the morning touching her face, undoing her hair unceremoniously, making her feel very awaken and alive. She lost track of time and was starting to have some ideas to, at least, figure out what was Zelena's plan.

Lost in thought as she was, and not remembering that after 30 years many roads changed their course in the Enchanted Forest, Regina was taken by surprise when Rocinante took an unexpected turn left straight to the woods.

"Rocinante, stop!" she yelled. But the horse was uncontrollable. Then, when she looked ahead a big branch was hanging from an old tree. She's not using magic lately, just as Henry asked her, so she braced herself for the inevitable impact. But it never came, as the horse came to a sudden halt and Regina was thrown forward.

She hit her back in the hard floor, moaning in pain. After a minute or so, she noticed her back was wet, and when she started to panic, Regina touched the floor and it was mud. Terrific, she thought, now I'm dirty and alone, and I don't even know where I am.

She managed to stand up, her back hurting quite a bit. The forest was quiet, just the sound of the wind touching the leaves, she couldn't hear birds or other animals walking around. She relaxed a bit and used a spell trying to cleaning her clothes, but it was useless. The mud had ruined it all. Frustrated as she was, Regina didn't see someone approaching, but the sound of a twig breaking caught her attention and she turned around to face the thief.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, walking a few steps closer to her horse.

"It's me who should be asking that, Your Majesty." Robin Hood, the thief she tried to ignore so much whenever he was in the castle, looked at her with a curious look in his eyes.

"What are you look at?" She asked again, now her voice one octave higher.

"Your clothes are dirty and very much wet, Your Majesty. We are close to my campsite, if you allow me to escort you there, you could use the river by it to try and clean them before going back to your castle. I know that sorcerers like you have tricks to dry clothes and all."

"Like me?"

"Yes, good ones." Oh! Good that she didn't reply as she usually does.

She considered his offer. She very much needed to clean up her clothes and herself as well. But she didn't feel she should go, her instincts were begging her not to. Screw instincts, she thought.

Trying to be a better person included accepting help from strangers, so that she could do the same, even if he was not that much of a stranger.

"Your Majesty, why are you so far from the castle?"

"I didn't realize I was so far from it. I left before the sun rise, and I lost track of time. Also, I didn't know that this particular road had changed."

"It changed 10 years ago after a flood that left many dead."

"Oh! I'm sorry to hear that." Robin looked at her, intrigued by the sincerity in her words. And apparently he couldn't stop staring at her.

"What is it?" She asked, feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Nothing, just a little dirty here in your cheek." Good that there was mud in her face, because he was not really look at it at the moment. He took his glove off and touched Regina's face, cleaning out the mud that landed in her face. Her breath got caught in her throat. She had forgotten what it was like to have someone care for her in such small way.

"Hmm, ok, thank you!" Where's your campsite?"

"Right behind that hill over there." He pointed straight. "Your Majesty, I think it would be better if you sit on your horse, I'm not sure it will be good for you to walk this distance after tat fall. It's at least a 15 minute walk from here.

She considered his words, accepting the advice. Her back was now hurting a little less. It wasn't the worst fall she ever had, but the terrain she fell in was not really soft.

Robin walked around the horse and taking Regina by the waist, tried to help her up, when the mud in her boot made her slip and fall right into his arms. She turned around and he was so close she could see his eyes dilating. She froze and in an instant was hoping herself up on the horse.

"Lead the way." She said, her face red. From above she couldn't see that the man guiding her was much like in the same state.

~OQ~

15 minutes later, Regina and Robin arrived at the camp. It was almost empty, once the men were either hunting or patrolling the woods in case any flying monkey was spotted.

"Your Majesty, the river is that way. I have some clothes here, not like yours of course, but it should do while you use the water to clean your clothes."

"Thank you! I sincerely owe you."

"No, you don't. Leave it be, I know you'll have the opportunity to return the favor. I'm just glad to help."

He took her to a much larger tent than the others. Taking the view in, Regina knew that this was his tent. There was a tiny bed in the corner, and she remembered of Roland.

"How's your son?"

"He is fine. He is now with Little John and Fry Tuck learning, as he requested, how to hunt."

"Well, like father, like son."

"Oh yes!" Robin smiled broadly and handed Regina the clothes. Leaving her to change, he stood at the entrance of the tent still shaken by the proximity when she fell in his arms. Oh no, he couldn't be, could he?

There was something about this woman that made him stay close to the castle. He tried many times to fool himself by saying that he wasn't capable of leaving that area because Charming or Snow would need him at some point. Still, in the night, with the silence engulfing the forest, his mind would drift to this very strong and independent woman, whom he admired so much.

He still remembered when they broke into the castle months earlier. Her sad eyes, giving in that her heart was broken. He could see and feel how vulnerable she was with the mere thought of her son, Henry. Seeing her like that had a different effect on him. He would never see her as the famous Evil Queen. For him, she was a mother who was forced to leave her son behind for his own good. Robin knew that she was a woman with deep emotional scars who was trying now to be a better person for her boy. His heart clenched and ached for her.

"Well, it's not so bad, after all." He heard her voice, and turned to the sight of a very different person.

"Indeed, Your Majesty." He chuckled at her confused expression. These royals are funny sometimes. "May I show you the way to the river?"

"Yes, please!"

Regina followed Robin, climbing a little hill and turning right to the sight of a not so very calm river.

"Be careful here. It rained a lot last night, so the river is a bit rebellious. I will be behind the hill. If you need me, just call my name."

"Alright, thank you!"

Regina considered the use of magic, and for once thought it was the best. Henry would understand her situation, right? So, she approached the riverbank and with a quick spell, water started to lift itself and wash over the back of her clothing. It was a waste, seriously. This one piece, so gorgeous, was lost after this mud bath. But she was, at least, going back to the castle in a better state.

She kept the water flowing and her thoughts followed the trail and she started thinking about Henry and how happy he would be knowing that she's now helping Snow and Charming. Knowing that she's doing her best to be a different person. A better person.

So just like the fall took her by surprise, the slip did too. It rained the night before as Robin had told her, and the soil was not firm enough to support anyone's weight and in an instant Regina was falling inside the river. She screamed.

In a flash, Robin was with her. She was almost caught by the river flow when he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She was, again, wet. Only now she was completely wet, and so was her savior.

He went up the riverbank and pulled her again. He was strong and her frame was not so heavy, naturally she hit his chest hard and both landed on the floor.

Wet as she was, drops started to land on Robin's face when she raised herself to look at him. He was simply staring at her. Hair undone, wet and probably cold now, Regina looked strangely magnificent in his eyes. It was like the mask of the queen had been taken by the river and in front of him was the real person, the woman that intrigued him from the start.

She suddenly got nervous because she could feel his solid frame, all of it. His chest, his thighs, his arms under her hands. Everything, and she couldn't deny it was a little overwhelming, especially considering that it's been quite a long time since the last time she had someone this close to her.

"Your Majesty, I…" she silenced him with a finger over his lips.

"Say nothing, thief." And the same finger she used to silence him, went down, traveling across his jaw line, his neck and went up again to brush a drop off the tip of his nose. She kissed it lightly, her mouth hovering over his for only a heart beat before he took charge and grabbed her by the waist, rolling them on the floor and kissing her.

The feel of his lips on hers and his body so close, confused her once she did not know if the shivers running up and down her body were because of the cold wind or because he was bringing back to life some of the burning fire she always had within her that she didn't even realized it was hidden away.

That thought alone scared her, after all he was the first one to break this barrier and she was not sure if it was right, if she really wanted that. Reluctantly she pulled back, staring at his now dark blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, I…" she didn't really know what to say. She was embarrassed.

"Don't be, I apologize for this, I got carried away."

"Don't apologize, please! It wasn't you who started it."

"But it was my obligation not to cross this line, Your Majesty."

"I let you do it, didn't I? You did not do anything bad here. I wanted it, and as far as I can tell so did you. And don't expect me to apologise, you are quite a good kisser." She smiled. He smirked, raising from their awkward position, assisting her, not really caring about the state they were in.

He stared at her for a while, and run a hand over her face. She smiled again. He decided that _her smile_ was his favorite thing about her. Oh, he was in trouble.

"Your Majesty, we are both wet now. I guess I'll be happy if you know anything that could solve this." Both were now shivering. Regina performed a drying spell on her clothes and on them.

Half an hour later, she was dressed in her own clothes and ready to leave.

"Check on this back of yours, Your Majesty. It must be still hurting. I'll be on the castle tomorrow for the meeting."

"Better not let anyone knows about this, thief!" She turned her back, and Robin was confused, almost hurt.

"What?"

"I don't want Zelena after you. Roland still needs his father around," a second later, looking at him again, she lifted the heavy weight that was suddenly upon his heart. "So do I."

She left, ridding her horse as fast as she could, glad that her day turned to be a great one.

So that is that.

I'll probably write a sequel to this because I feel like it's necessary. Until then, thanks for reading it. Also, reviews are love and prevent the killing of red pandas.

Thanks! ;)


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